Urban Bathhouse in the Islamic Far East

While the bathhouses of Rome and Byzantium have received a great deal of academic attention in the West, the baths of the Islamic world, particularly those in the far Islamic East in Central Asia, have been largely overlooked and much scholarly research in this region has only been published in Russian. This paper is an attempt to readdress this regional bias by presenting an overview of medieval bathhouses in Kazakhstan, based largely on the results of a recent upsurge in commercial archaeological excavations in the country. Ten bathhouses are described, and the significant features of Kazakh baths are highlighted.

Indian English is also Creole: Incorporating Regional Bias in Research Pedagogy

Research pedagogy in India should readjust itself to accommodate claims of regional autonomy in arts and letters. Different ways of reconstructing a pedagogy of research are recommended. Reflexive Humanism ensures adequate assessment and evaluation of cultural, literary, and aesthetic achievements of diverse populations. The Indian English corpus is redefined as a creolized Indian language with lexical and semantic factors borrowed from English. The consciousness of pro-national subjectivism is also considered an essential constituent of Indian English literature. Lines of research are suggested for aspiring scholars in the Indian academy. The author emphasizes a dynamic and sensitive adaptation of research methodology which respects and reintegrates itself with the evolution of globally aware, contemporary society in India.

A dual-time-window protocol to reduce acquisition time of dynamic tau PET imaging using [18F]MK-6240

Background [18F]MK-6240 is a PET tracer with sub-nanomolar affinity for neurofibrillary tangles. Therefore, tau quantification is possible with [18F]MK-6240 PET/CT scans, and it can be used for assessment of Alzheimer’s disease. However, long acquisition scans are required to provide fully quantitative estimates of pharmacokinetic parameters. Therefore, on the present study, dual-time-window (DTW) acquisitions was simulated to reduce PET/CT acquisition time, while taking into consideration perfusion changes and possible scanning protocol non-compliance. To that end, time activity curves (TACs) representing a 120-min acquisition (TAC120) were simulated using a two-tissue compartment model with metabolite corrected arterial input function from 90-min dynamic [18F]MK-6240 PET scans of three healthy control subjects and five subjects with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, TACs corresponding to different levels of specific binding were generated and then various perfusion changes were simulated. Next, DTW acquisitions were simulated consisting of an acquisition starting at tracer injection, a break and a second acquisition starting at 90 min post-injection. Finally, non-compliance with the PET/CT scanning protocol were simulated to assess its impact on quantification. All TACs were quantified using reference Logan’s distribution volume ratio (DVR) and standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR90) using the cerebellar cortex as reference region. Results It was found that DVR from a DTW protocol with a 60-min break between two 30-min dynamic scans closely approximates the DVR from the uninterrupted TAC120, with a regional bias smaller than 2.5%. Moreover, SUVR90 estimates were more susceptible (regional bias ≤ 19%) to changes in perfusion compared to DVR from a DTW TAC (regional bias ≤ 10%). Similarly, SUVR90 was affected by late-time scanning protocol delays reaching an increase of 8% for a 20-min delay, while DVR was not affected (regional bias < 1.5%) by DTW protocol non-compliance. Conclusions Therefore, such DTW protocol has the potential to increase patient comfort and throughput without compromising quantitative accuracy and is more reliable against SUVR in terms of perfusion changes and protocol deviations, which could prove beneficial for drug effect assessment and patient follow-up using longitudinal [18F]MK-6240 PET imaging.

Testing Passive Microwave-based Hail Retrievals using GPM DPR Ku-band Radar

Several studies in the literature have developed approaches to diagnose hail storms from satellite-borne passive-microwave imagery and build nearly global climatologies of hail. This paper uses spaceborne Ku-band radar measurements to validate several passive-microwave approaches. We assess the retrievals based on how tightly they constrain the radar reflectivity at -20°C, and how this measured radar reflectivity aloft varies geographically. The algorithm which combines Minimum 19-GHz polarization corrected temperature (PCT) with a 37-GHz PCT depression normalized by tropopause height constrains the radar reflectivity most tightly, and gives the least appearance of regional biases. A retrieval based on a 19- GHz PCT threshold of 261K also produces tightly clustered profiles of radar reflectivity, with little regional bias. An approach using regionally-adjusted Minimum 37-GHz PCT performs relatively well, but our results indicate it may overestimate hail in some subtropical and midlatitude regions. A threshold applied to the Minimum 37-GHz PCT (≤ 230K), without any scaling by region or probability of hail, overestimates hail in the tropics and underestimates beyond the tropics. For all retrieval approaches, storms identified as having hail tended to have radar reflectivity profiles that are consistent with general expectations for hailstorms (reflectivity > 50 dBZ below the 0°C level, and > 40 dBZ extending far above 0°C). Profiles from oceanic regions tended to have more rapidly decreasing reflectivity with height than profiles from other regions. Subtropical, high latitude, and high terrain land profiles had the slowest decreases of reflectivity with height.

Bridging the gap between geographic concept and the data we have: The case of labor markets in the USA

A broad literature has made it clear that geographic units must be selected with care or they are likely to introduce error and uncertainty into results. Nevertheless, researchers often use data “off the shelf” with the implicit assumptions that their observations are consistent with the geographical concept relevant for their research question, and that they are of uniformly high quality in capturing this geographic identity. In this paper, we consider the geographical concept of “labor market” and offer a template for both clarifying its meaning for research and testing the suitability of extant labor-market delineations. We establish a set of metrics for comparing the quality of existing labor-market delineations with respect to the diverse meanings that researchers apply to the concept. Using the fit metrics established here, researchers can explore how delineations vary geographically, how they vary over time, and how this variation may shape research outcomes. Our assessment is that the quality of the extant delineations is relatively high overall. However, we find that different delineations vary significantly in the types of labor markets they represent, and that regional variations in fit within any given delineation may introduce noise or regional bias that merits consideration in any analysis conducted with these units. More broadly, the kinds of metrics we propose here have applicability for many other geographic entities where boundaries and scale can be only imperfectly defined.

Regional and source differences in midsize newspapers reporting New York Times v. Sullivan

This study focuses on midsize newspaper coverage of the New York Times v. Sullivan case that strengthened press freedom. A content analysis of articles from 29 Northern, 25 Southern and six multistate major metropolitan newspapers identified differences in article frequency and placement related to source and coverage type. The hierarchy of influences model explains perceived regional bias. Midsize newspapers relied on wire news articles more often, with Northern papers publishing more editorials, including multiple editorials and original coverage.